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Town Survey Commission 

() F K I N G S C O U N T Y. ' -' ' ' 



REPORT 



OF 



AMUEL /Vic 




LROY. 



I I— < ■• 



J 



SUPERINTENDENT OF SURVEY 







Submitted, Octobkr 31st, 1874. 



Bi|oohlyn : 
HOME HKOTHERS, PIUNTERS, 377 FULTON STREET, 

1874. 



"?V^)V 



^ 






REPORT. 



To Messrs. W. J. Osborne, J. L. Eyder, P. S. Crooke, 
W. J. Ororsey, J. J. Stillwell, aud G. Schejsck, 
Esquires, 
Commissioners for Mapping the County Towns of Kings 
County. 

Gentlemen, — The work for wliieb the Town Survey 
Oommissiou was organized, having been completed, I 
have the honor to submit herewith a Final Report of the 
same, reference being made to the 

Legislative acts, 

Organization, 

Surveys and Maps made, 

Theory of Plans adopted, 

Lines of Movement and Systems, 

Street and Block Dimensions, 

Parkways, 

Street Dimensions in detail. 

Street names and numbers, 

Public Squares, 

Bulkhead and Pier Lines, 

Interior Basins and Canals, 

Street Monuments, 

Base Line Location, 

Street Grades, 

Town Areas and Capacities, 

Improvements, 

Expenditures, 

Engineer Department, 

Conclusion. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Samuel McElroy, 

Siip't of Survey. 



LEGISLATIVE ACTS. 

The original act organizing tbe Commission was passed 
May 7th, 1869. It provided for six Commissioners to he 
the Supervisors of the 13 ve towns, with the Chaiimau of 
the Board of Supervisors, with exclusive power to lay ont 
" streets, roads and avenues," locate monuments, and tile 
maps of the same. 

May 3, 1870, an amendment was passed, authorizing 
special surveys, and preliminary local maps. 

April 24, 1872, a supplemental act was passed, author- 
izing the Commission to determine the width of carriage- 
ways, side-walks, and court-yards ; providing for the cus- 
tody of the street monuments; and for the arrangement 
of bulkhead and pier lines and interior basins. 

May 25, 1874, an act was passed providing for a copy 
of the general map to be filed in the office of the Secretary 
of State, and a copy of the map of each town, to be filed 
in the town clerks' offices, and concluding the work of the 
Commission. 

In addition to these laws various special duties in the 
matter of opening streets, were from time to time imposed 
on the Commission, by special laws. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The Commission was organized by the ai)pointment of 
Hon. Wm. J. Osborne as chairman, and John L. Eyder as 
secretary. July 1, 1869, Samuel McElroy, C.E., was ap- 
appointed Superintendent of Survey, and the preliminary 
field work was commenced. 

SURVEYS AND MAPS MADE. 

A General Map, on a scale of tttuuoj ^vas prepared, cov- 
ering the several towns, from the Plane Table-Map of the 
Coast Survey of 1857, for use in the arrangement of the 
field work. A field party was then organized, and a series 



of careful surveys made of the four towns of New Utrecbt, 
Gravesend, Flatbush, and Flatlands, from wLich prelimi- 
nary maps were made on a scale of 200 feet per iucl), 
sbowin<»- the existino- streets, roads, property lines, build- 
ings, and other information of service in determining the 
relative merits and effects of avenue and street plans. 

These maps had so far progressed, that the Superinten- 
dent was enabled, during the Fall and Winter of 1870-71, 
to prepare general plans of streets, which were made the 
subject of public discussion by the property-owners of 
each locality, under the invitation of the Commission. 
After a full and careful hearing these were taken up in 
detail, and in the Spring of 1871, were so far digested and 
arranged, that the work of definite location could be com- 
menced in prominent districts. This field work was pro- 
secuted with all the diligence its difficult character would 
admit, during the working seasons of 1871, '72 and '73, ad- 
vantage being taken of less favorable weather to prepare 
corrected maps of the localities, for use in the final plot- 
ting of the General Map, now filed in three atlases, in the 
Eegister's office. In the Fall of 1873 the entire field- 
work was C()ni[)leted, and the street monuments located, 
throughout the four towns named and a small portion of 
New Lots, this town having been exempted, under the origi- 
nal law, from survey, on the ground of work completed 
or in progress. 

THEORY OF PLANS ADOPTED. 

It would seem, from an examination of Kings County 
as a whole, forming nearly a parallelogram, with the shore 
lines of Bay Ridge and the East River on the westerly 
front, with the Narrows and the Ocean on the south, Ja- 
maica Bay on the south and east, and Queens County on 
the east and north, that the natural lines of movement, 
and, by consequence, of street arrangement, run easterly 
and westerly, or from Jamaica Bay towards the East River 



6 

and the Harbor, and of avenue arrangements, at right 
angles, or northerly and southerly. 

Over a considerable portion of the City of Brooklyn, 
viz., north of Broadway and south of Flatbush avenue, 
this system has been adopted, and all the streets of South 
Brooklyn, if extended, would terminate in Jamaica Bay. 

In consequence, however, of certain local and tempo- 
rary incidents of settlement and movement, the lines of 
deiivery from Jamaica Bay have tended towards the East 
River, from the greater part of the district, crossing the 
parallelogram diagonally. Within the City of Brooklyn 
no uniform sj'stem of arrangement obtains, and the devel- 
opment of the populated centers, over the County Towns, 
at the villages of Fort Hamilton, New Utrecht, Graves- 
end, Flatbush, Flatlands, Canarsie, and East New York, 
does not now permit the adoption of any uniform system 
of streets and avenues, strictlj^ adapted to the form of 
Kings County. The plans must therefore adapt them- 
selves to the local progress made, having in view certain 
general conditions of arrangement. 

LINES OF MOVEMENT AND SYSTEMS. 

A study of the experience of any old and populous 
city shows the great importance of placing the streets 
and avenues so that the blocks will range in lines parallel 
with those of greatest travel, and proper care in this re- 
spect is of great consequence to this portion of Kings 
County, which is certainly destined, in time, to contain a 
vast population. 

The City of New York was treated by Jno. Randall, Jr., 
C.E., in the general plan made by him, as a commercial 
city, with its chief movements from river to river; but 
experience has not confirmed this theory, and the system 
of blocks is reversed from what it should be, for up and 
down town travel. As the streets lie across the lines of 
movement, there is great inconvenience from the limited 



number of channels, and from the continued interruption 
of those which do exist, at short intervals, by the street 
crossings, and New York now has crowded avenues, and 
expensive projects for increased facilities in northerly and 
southerly travel. 

Want of forethought in this matter is a fruitful source 
of expense in street widenings and openings, and the ten- 
dency of prominent centers to connect themselves by 
straight lines, often diagonal to intervening systems, is 
well understood in city experience. In the earlier days 
of city life, lines may be considered radical in size or 
direction, which prove, in time, wise preventatives to le- 
gislation and costly rearrangement. 

It is also to be observed, that in the vicinity of a great 
commercial city like New York, water fronts become valu- 
able for business, for landings, ferries, and otherwise, and 
where it can conveniently be done, there is an advantage 
in making the street system deliver towards them. 

The system adopted for the town of New Utrecht, in 
the main, was controlled by the street arrangement of 
South Brooklyn, which was continued southerly as far as 
8Cth street, and easterly as far West street, where the 
Flatbush system commences. Second, Third and Fourth 
avenues had been laid out, from a short distance below 
the City Line, parallel with the shore line on the west, 
and a similar plan was adopted from the shore to Seventh 
avenue, with streets at right angles, west of Fourth 
avenue, down to the village of Fort Hamilton, for which 
a local plan was made, to accommodate existing streets, 
On Gravesend Bay, the streets were made at right angles 
to the shore, terminating in 86th street, and parallel with 
the avenues of the main system, which were continued 
through to the pier-head lines. In the vicinity of Oving- 
tou and Bay Ridge avenues, a special plan was adapted 
to their lines for a limited district, to accommodate im- 
provements previously made, which required modification 
of the main system. 



8 

While tlie New Utrecht system adopts that of South 
Brooklyn, iu carrying the streets easterly and westerly, 
to and from the Harbor, in the other towns the general 
system carries the streets from the vicinity of the City of 
Brooklyn to the Ocean, or its Bays, in a northerly and 
sontherly direction. Under this theory of future travel 
for this district, a street was located from a point near 
Greenwood Cemetery to tbe Atlantic, which became tbe 
directrix for the streets easterly, and was called West 
street, its line being i)arallel with the Ocean Parkway and 
the central part of Coney Island Avenue. A part of 
Gravesend is laid out west of West street with similar 
l)lan of streets, crossing Coney Island to the Atlantic. 

In Flatlands this plan is modified on the necks, to adapt 
the streets to their natural drainage lines and water 
fronts. To accommodate this arrangement, Flatlands 
avenue was located from Avenue P at a point near the 
Gravesend Town Line to the New Lots line, the streets 
being established, as a rule, at right angles to it, as far 
east as Fresh Creek Valley. 

At intervals of 700 or 800 feet, as a rule, in New Utrecht 
and Flatbush, the street system is intersected at right 
angles by avenues ; iu Gravesend and Flatlands the 
blocks are shorter. 

With some local exceptions controlled by existing im- 
provements, a study of the plans adopted for these towns 
will show a broad, comprehensive and uniform system of 
streets running towards the Ocean or the Harbor, care- 
fully connected with the city streets and avenues, and lo- 
cated without regard to farm lines or individnal interests, 
so as to meet and develop the interests of the dense popu- 
lation destined in time to occupy this area; an area with 
which no other, within the same distance from New York 
can be compared, in advantages for suburban life. 



STREET AND BLOCK DIMENSIONS. 

An oi)niion was expressed by some property owners 
that the lands should be treated as villa sites, with ample 
grounds between the streets and avenues; it was held, 
however, that the letter and spirit of the law, and the in- 
terests of the public, required a regular city system of 
blocks, whicli would obviate any future trouble in sub- 
division. • 

In the City of New York, above 125tli street, the blocks 
are 199.83 feet wide ; above 14th street one row is 211.91 
feet and another 184 feet wide, the general width being- 
less than 200 feet. The length of blocks varies consider- 
ably ; between Gtli and 12th avenues, below and above 
34th street, the length is 800 feet ; in some cases between 
4th and Gth avenues, 920 feet; while east of 3d avenue, 
the lengths below 23d street range from 610 to 676 feet. 
The standard width of the avenues is 100 feet, except 4th 
above 34tli street, which is 140 feet, and some east-side 
avenues 80 feet, ''Lexington" and ''Madison" being 75 
feet, and "D" and "B" 60 feet. On a portion of Madison 
avenue the owners, by mutual consent, have made the 
building width 85 feet. All the streets above 14th are 
60 feet wide, except 23(1 34th, 42nd, and other inter- 
vening streets, which are 100 feet. As a rule, on the resi- 
dence streets of the best class, the buildings are set back 
from the line 5 or 10 feet on each side, which, by giving 
this additional width of court-yards, greatly improves the 
appearance of the streets. 

Over a large portion of the City of Brooklyn 200 feet is 
the usual width of blocks, and in those cases east of Flat- 
bnsh avenue where they are 255. 593 and 265 feet, no ad- 
vantage pertains to this excess. In South Brooklyn, from 
89th to 59th street, the street width is 60 feet, the avenues 
being 80 feet; within the city, 4th avenue has been made 
120 feet wide. The blocks, as a rule, are 700 feet long. 

In the towns, the ordinary street width was made 60 



10 

feet, and avenue width 80 feet, these dimensions being 
enlarged at intervals to furnish special lines of delivery ; 
the ordinarj^ width of blocks is 200 feet, with dccasional 
and special exceptions, to accommodate future railway 
lines, or local cases. In New Utrecht the Brooklyn length 
of blocks was retained, 700 feet, as a rule ; in the central 
district, to reduce the number of crossings, the blocks 
are generally 800 feet; in the eastern district they are in 
v^arious cases less than 700 feet ; in New Lots they are, in 
some parts, 400 feet. 

It may be assumed, as a rule, that where the street 
lines coincide with those of general movement, there is no 
inconvenience, and considerable economy in property 
and cost of avenue construction, in blocks of 700 or 800 
feet ; and that for ordinary residence streets, CO feet 
normal width, which admits a carriage-way of 32 feet, is 
sufficient. And, as cost of construction and maintenance 
chiefly depends on width of carriage-way, the general use 
of this standard is advisable ; streets likely to carry horse- 
railways, or to be more occupied for travel, require wider 
drives, and greater widths ; the ornamental effects of 
liberal court-yards advises the occasional use of wide 
streets ; and care has been taken to provide for these 
special cases. 

PARKWAYS. 

The Eastern Parkway of Brooklyn was laid out by law 
210 feet wide, with 30 feet additional for court-yards on 
each side, and terminated abruptly and without outlet at 
the city line. A similar improvement, the Ocean Park- 
way, was laid out in Flatbush and Gravesend, terminating 
at the Kings Highway. 

These parkways have a central drive of 70 feet, two 
promenades for shade trees of 30 feet each, two trafiic 
roads of 25 feet, and sidewalks of 15 feet. 

In the case of the Ocean Parkway, the normal line was 



11 

preserved to a plaza laid out ou the Oouey Island shore; 
under special law this line has been changed, so that the 
extension will cross our system diagonally, when con- 
structed, and mutilate a general plan carefully studied. 

In the case of the Eastern Parkway, we extend it to 
East New York avenue, which is made 100 feet wide ; and 
in order to give it outlet, two parkways have been laid 
out, one, as its continuation towards Jamaica, called by 
the same name, and another, as Rockaway Parkway, lead- 
ing through Oanarsie to the steamboat docks of the Rock- 
away ferry. 

Parkways of 210 feet width take a wide area of real 
estate, have three expensive carriage-ways to build and 
maintain, two of which are likely to be neglected and 
become unsightly, and have involved an enormous expen- 
diture, to be assessed on the adjacent property. We have 
therefore reduced the plan of construction on the Rocka- 
way Parkway to two carriage-ways of 30 feet width, a 
central promenade of 24 feet, and sidewalks of 10 feet, 
with street court-yards of 8 feet, to which the side-owners 
will doubtless add enough to secure an ornamental build- 
ing front. It is believed that this will secure a drive quite 
as ornamental, at a cost not much exceeding that of an 
ordinary 100 feet street, and the use of drives in opposite 
directions is much safer than a common drive. The ex- 
tension of the Eastern Parkway through Kings County is 
made 130 feet wide, with two 35 feet carriage-ways. It is 
expected that this avenue will be extended through 
Queens County to Jamaica. 



12 



STREET DIMENSIONS IN DETAIL. 

The Bi'ooklyii ordiuauces give the following street di- 
mensions : 

AYlDTH OF 



Street, 


Court Yard, 


Sidewalk, 


Carriage-way, 


50 feet. 


5 feet. 


8 feet. 


24 feet. 


60 


6 


9 


30 


70 


7 


11 


34 


75 


7 


in 


38 


80 


7 


13 


40 


100 


7 


13 


60 



The dimensions adopted for our schedule are as fol- 
lows : 

Width of 



Street, 


Court Yard, 


Side\A 


^alk. 


Carriage-way, 


50 feet. 


5 feet. 


() 




28 


60 


6 


8 




32 


70 


7.5 


10 




35 


80 


8 


10 




44 


100 


10 


15 




50 



STREET NAMES AND NUMBERS. 

The disadvantages of giving, over so large an area as 
this, ordinary street names, were so obvious, and the con- 
venience, in the future, of a more simple and regular 
system was so evident, that the use of names, exce})! in 
local cases, was rejected, and numerals or ali)habet-letters 
substituted. 

The streets and avenues in South Brooklyn being known 
by numbers, these were continued southerly and easterly, 
down to 113th street at Fort Haniilton and out to 28th 
avenue. Along Gravesend Bay the streets are respective- 



13 

ly"Bay First," "Bay Second," «&c., up to "Bay SOtli." 
For the central and eastern section, West street was taken 
as a starting point, and the streets named " East First," 
"Bast Second," «&c., up to "East 109th"; tlie avenues 
being named "Avenue A," &c., southerly to " Avenue Z." 
In this way we avoid an endless confusion of names ; we 
furnish a convenient key to lind the relative location of a 
given street or avenue; and we simplify very much the 
future house numbering, so long a vexed problem in 
Brooklyn. In local cases where names were unavoidable, 
care was taken to reject names now in use in Brooklyn, 
and to avoid duplication. This matter has required and 
received much attention. 

PUBLIC SQUARES. 

Local squares or parks prove of great public utility in 
city experience, in case of conflagrations, and for public 
displays and recreation ; the authority of the law has not, 
however, been exercised by the Commission, except in 
certain diagonal street junctions, and in a restricted man- 
ner, leaving this appropriation of property to be regulated 
as the city growth may dictate. A timely provision for 
the future cemeteries of tins area is important, but does 
not come within the present province. 

BULK-HEAD AND PIER LINES. 

The Harbor Commissioners' maps determine these lines 
from the city to F<u'l Hamilton, on the Harbor, and certain 
general lines thence to Coney Island Point. Under the 
act of April 24th, 1872, the Commission was authorized to 
complete these lines on Gravesend and Jamaica Bays, 
tor use as terminals to the street system, and future 
riparian occupation. 

Authority has been given to another Harbor Commission 
to alter the Harbor lines, for some time, but as they have 
failed to act, we were obliged to assume the present lines. 



14 

iiH near as they conUl be determined from the State maps, 
on this westerly point. In Gravesend Bay the lines are 
impracticable for constrnction, and a modified plan of 
piers and basins was adopted inshore of them, so as to 
provide for sufficient material bj' dredging, &c., to make 
the requisite filling within and behind the cribs or docks. 
In like manner complete plans have been made for the 
entire water front of the Bays, as far as Fresh Creek. The 
New Lots maps do uot determine the water front, and 
these lines could not be established. 



INTERIOR BASINS AND CANALS. 

In connection with this matter, the Commission was also 
authorized to lay out basins in the swamp lands of the 
district, so as to provide for the future commercial interests 
of the water front and the inland area, and at the same 
time economise street construction, where surplus filling 
cannot be had. 

With this view Basins have been planned at the Dyker 
Meadow (Dyker Basin) ; Ilarway's Mill Pond (Harway 
Basin) ; the north branch of Coney Island Creek (Graves- 
end Basin) ; the valley east of Gravesend avenue (Still- 
well Basin) ; the valley east of Coney Island avenue 
(Stryker Basin); Garretsen's Mill Pond (Garretsen Basin); 
the valley of Bedford Creek (Paerdegat Basin) ; and of 
Fresh Creek (Fresh Creek Basin). The Paerdegat Basin 
will, when opened, permit the delivery of brick, stone, 
lumber and other building materials, coal, and other bulky 
articles, as thej^ arrive in the harbor, within two miles of 
the Park, in Flatbush, without transhipment, and thus re- 
duce the cost of building and transportation much below 
their cost in the adjacent area of Brooklyn. 

In connection with this plan. Coney Island Creek, a 
navigable stream, has been laid out as a ship canal from 
Gravesend to Sheepshead Bay, 200 feet wide, with streets 
on each side 100 feet wide. 



15 

In connection with the same subject, the future drain- 
age and sewer lines have been anticipated in the basin and 
street plans ; in a large part of New Utrecht and Flat- 
bush the problem of surface and cellar drainage is not 
difficult, but in other parts with Gravesend and Flatlands, 
the eventual disposal of sewage flow will require great 
care to obviate expensive and defective plans. It is be- 
lieved that this development of the swamps and water 
front by basins will create a value to property which is 
now useless and worthless. 

The exterior basins of Gravesend Bay have been care- 
fully studied so as to balance the dredging and upland 
filling, in the main, and secure at the same time a system 
of pier-locked basins, destined at no very distant day, to 
supply protected anchorage and wharfage for the annually 
increasing commerce of New York Harbor. This business 
the present accommodation's of the Harbor do not ade- 
quately meet, and the line of development annually' pro- 
gresses southerly. Any inspection of the general map of 
the Harbor shows at once the admirable location of Graves- 
end Bay for ocean transljij)nient, as this business demands 
new systems of docks and warehouses ; and the problem 
of a future connection ot this front with the heart of New 
York, by rapid transit railways is so simple, that their con- 
struction is a mere question of time. The eventual im- 
provement of Coney Island has also been arranged, in 
harmony with the docks on this Bay and the Gravesend 
Ship Canal, and when the Town of Gravesend changes its 
present narrow policy of refusing to improve or to sell, this 
Island is destined to become a populous watering place 
and an important commercial station. 

STREET MONUMENTS. 

The street monuments set, were of selected granite, 
three and a half feet long, with seven inch squared heads, 
standing so as to show a little above the ground in farm- 
ing laud. Advantage was taken of the experience in 



16 

Brooklyn to locate tliem on offset lines within the street 
and not on street corners, where the erection of buildings 
must disturb them. These offsets, as a rule, are ten 
feet. 

The monument system of the towns is not complete, as 
it will require to be when the farms change to city blocks, 
but it is outlined by leading base lines, which designate 
the future work hereafter to be more completely filled in. 
The duty of the Commission made it necessary to desig- 
nate on the ground, in a clear and intelligent manner, the 
street lines adopted ; but in this, as in other directions, 
care was taken rather to restrict than to enlarge the work 
done. It was expected, and found in practice, that in 
ground wet at the time of setting monuments, or in the 
springtime, where these have been struck in ploughing or 
harrowing, they are liable to move; for this reason the lines 
on the heads were not cut before setting ; but inasmuch 
as the moiuiments are set generally on long ranges, 
where a local change is readily detected, and it was felt 
desirable to close up the field work as soon as possible, 
final test lines have not been run, and the cross lines not 
cut. The original intersections are designated by cuts on 
the edges. 

I regret to say that the Commissions for improving 86th 
street and 22(1 avenue, have entirely neglected to protect 
the imi)ortant base lines monumented on these streets, 
which were established with great care as the boundaries 
of intermediate districts. If our work continues to be 
treated in this way, very difficult and expensive corrections 
will fall on the localities interested. 

The number of monuments set is about 2,800. 

BASE LINE LOCATION. 

The problem of establishing the monument base lines, 
over so large and irregular an area, as that presented by 
these towns, with parallelograms sometimes over five miles 
long, w^as much more difficult than it may seem at first 



17 

siglit. Kuniiiiig" accurate lines aud aDgles, and measur- 
ing distances accurately, are not at all easy in actual 
practice, in seasons of continually varying- dryness and 
moisture, heat and cold, sunshine and cloud, and over a 
country full of obstructions to long sights, nn<ler careful 
cultivation in great i)art, and in various parts Avell covered 
with buildings aud ornamental grounds, common to the 
suburbs of a great city. Over this area of some 'M -j-^ 
square miles, (exclusive of New Lots,) it was necessary to 
establish a delicate network of spider-lines, designating as 
infallibly as the 'means at hand would i>erniit, the future 
streets of a colossal city, in such manner, that no future 
question should arise as to the intention of the i)lans 
adopted, or as to the integrity, in detail, of the location to 
the i)lans ; an integrity, wdiich centuries hereafter, periia})s, 
are contiuuallj'^ to test and criticise. Xot only was the 
problem inherently difficult, but the sense of the C'om- 
mission, in which the Superintendent fully sy]ni)athised, 
was that it should be acconij)lished at the least possible 
cost, in the least possible time, and in the simplest man- 
ner. 

The first detail to determine was, what should be taken 
as a standard foot, li' a city surveyor is to lay out a lot 
in Broolvlyn, his first care is to ascertain what kind of a 
chain to use, since there are at least three different stand- 
ards used, in as many different localities. This point is, 
however, settled by law, and the common English and 
French measure, adopted by the United States and this 
State, was formally adopted by the Commission, and a 
local standard yard was obtained, duly certified, and is 
now^ put on record in the County Clerk's Ofhce. Ju prac- 
tice finding on a test of 200 feet, that the standard of the 
Brooklyn Commission of 1830, was very slightly in ex- 
cess, aud more convenient for transfer, it ^\'as adopted and 
transferred for our field work use, on two test bases of 500 
feet each. 

This point settled, the problem of accurate measurement 



18 

by this standard was next in order; and of this dnty one 
or two thing-s may be said, to illustrate its difficulty. 

The Ordnance Survey of Great Britain, and the Coast 
Survej^ of the United States, are works of such magnitude 
as to have been special objects of national care; and of 
these, the latter, is a very important and very expensive 
department, under continual annual appropriations and 
organization. Yet the trained men at the head of depart- 
ments of this kind, recognize at once one principle, which 
is, in its nature, of an absolute character, the ijhysical im- 
possibility of making such a survey by the common method 
of surface measurement, in point of time, cost, and ac- 
curacy. For the whole basis of work in this department, 
from Long Island to the central D'dvt of the State of JMary- 
land, but two base lines were measured on the ground, one 
on Fire Island, the other on Kent Island, the work between 
these being performed by triangulation, to determine the 
connecting distances by calculation ; and the error, by this 
process, was found to be not more than four inches on this 
whole distance. 

In making the survey of the Hudson Eiver Yalley, for 
this State in 1866, from Troy to Fort Edward, a very cur- 
sory examination of the river banks satisfied me, that 
ordinary measurements were nearl}^ impossible, certainlj^, 
so, in view of the liniited time and appropriation, and the 
work was therefore done by triangulation, from a base 
near Troy, with four short base lines, measured as checks, 
as the survey progressed. In that case I was entirely 
satisfied to find in a distance of about 42 miles an error of 
15 inches, and to accomplish the work within the given 
time and appropriation. 

In other words, engineers of experience know the in- _ 
herent difficulty of making correct measurements, and this 
difficulty increases as the distances multiply, and we there- 
fore avoid multiplied measurements, wherever it can be 
done. 

In this case, however, the distances for each block, and 



19 

.system of blocks, had to be actually (letermined ou the 
<^roimd, over this eutii-e area of 30 fV square miles, involv- 
iug a proximate length of street Hues, of nearly 2,000 
miles; and it had to be done lapidly, with assistants under 
restricted jjay, and iu the simplest manner possible, with 
the ordinary field instruments, the Commission not feeling- 
authorised to provide those of a higher class, or of any 
class. 

In Coast Survey work, the measurement of a base line 
is made a very serious undertaking, nuich time being oc- 
cupied in selecting its site and grading the line of 4 to (> or 
7 miles, for the subsequent measurement; a party, of xix or 
seven assistants is used, and the actual time of measure- 
ment varies, in the case of six bases re[)orted, from 8 to 17 
days each. The ap|)aratus used is delicate, and requires 
great care in transporting and handling. In point of ac- 
curac}^, the results are admirable for work of this kind; in 
one case a coast survey check on a base measured for the 
Massachusetts Survey, near Portsmouth, E. I., over G 
miles long, showing 0.22 foot ditt'erence ; but this nicety of 
apparatus and manipulation was inadmissible for us. 

In the Brooklyn survey of the outer wards, its accom- 
plished chief, John S. Stoddard, Esq., used a heavy steel 
chain 50 feet long, of ten bars, which, in measuring, was 
used with the bars on ditferent inclinations, not being 
lined on trestles, involving levels and their corrections for 
each bar and those also for temperature, with transfer 
points at each length. 

John Eandall, Jr., an engineer celebrated for his care 
in work of that kind, laid out Upper New York, between 
1808 and 1820, using a steel bar or rod, 50 feet long, 
making corrections for inclinations and temperature, using 
for the purpose a sector of 5 feet radius. 

In preparing for the more extensive and varied work of 
this part of Kings County, I felt the necessity of simplify- 
ing this important detail. The attempt, in the varying 
changes of the day, to determine the temperature of a 



20 

metal bar, laid on the ground, with a thermometer discon- 
nected from it, as to accuracy of register for the bar, and 
multiplicity of notes and calculations, I wished to avoid ; 
I also wished to obviate the nuiltiplicity of level sights 
and corrections, and their chances of error; and also, the 
multi[)lied transfer stakes, for .50 fe^t lengths. Knowing 
that soft, clear, seasoned pine was much less affected by 
changes of temi)erature, than any metal, easy to construct, 
transport, and handle, I concluded to make a trial of it for 
our bases. 

On this theory I arranged an apparatus consisting of a 
tripod about 7 feet long, carrying on a convenient drum 
about (JOO feet of No. 13 annealed steel wire, and fitted 
with stay chains and a stout iron pin, to be driven in the 
ground and keep the tripod in place, when in use ; also, a 
back stay rod, of the sanies length, driven in the ground, 
oil line, supported by side stay chains and pins; between 
these the wire was stretched and sup[)orted at intervals of 
about 75 feet, by ordinary wooden flags, fitted with sliding 
rests and keys, so that when the wire was secured behind 
the back sta}^, to a pin firmly driven in the ground, it 
could readily be brought to a level ; or if the grouml did 
not so permit, to a unifonii inclination, for a distance of 
;■)!)(> feet or more, over the sliding rests of the back stay 
r>)il and the fiags, and certain intermediate rests on the 
back leg of the tripod. With a little practice this opera- 
tion was rapidly and accurately made, the several flags, 
rod, etc., being first put in line on the main base, so that 
the wire near the back stay was plumbed from a plumb- 
claiii[) over the stake and tack, which was the starting (or 
intermediate) point of measurement. The wire being in 
line, uiidtH' a tension of about oOO pounds, a pine rod 12J 
feet long, by standard, with brass butts carefully faced, 
was held under the wire with one end in contact with the 
face of the plumb-clamp, and a brass clamp properly faced 
and sliding on the wire, was i)ut in contact with the other end 
and fistened by a hand-screw, A second sliding clamp was 



21 

then put ill contact with the first and fastened, the rod 
being relieved. Tliis clamp then formed the starting point 
for another measnrement of the rod on the wire, being re- 
lieved and brought up to the forward clamp and reset as 
the measurement progressed. 

We had then an apparatus light, simple, easily trans- 
poi'tinl, not easily injured, which three assistants could 
work in the Held ; a common spirit level sufiiced for the 
wire in most cases, and in others, the notes were so taken 
that levels on the several stakes gave the data for correc- 
tions. The bases therefore did not require highly educated 
men, and the assistants were relieved from multiplied 
notes and calculations. Test benches of 500 feet were 
estjiblished, au<l the rod, in this way, frequently tested, 
and particularly after a Avet interval, as it was soon ascer- 
taiiied that moisture was by far the chief source of any 
ex])ansion. 

In the more delicate processes of the Coast Survey, etc., 
temperature sometimes becomes a limit to Avork; in one 
scientitic description lOO'^ is made the limit; but our work 
had to go on in the hottest and sometimes in the coldest 
weather. In former experience and an extended test here 
of the ordinary use of steel tapes or chains, it was clear 
without much study, that they Avere entirel}^ unreliable in 
extrenuis ; the same test however, fully vindicated the 
value of the Avooden rods, as thej^ needed care chiefly in 
wet seasons. We were embarrassed also by the continual 
necH'ssity of educating new men, those used being mainly 
students of college or technical schools, who Avere anxious 
to acquire practice, and (piite as ready to leaA-e for any in- 
crease of i)ay. Under these conditions, I consider this 
system of measurem(Mit the key to the successful comx)le- 
tion of our work in time, cost, and correctness. 

The same rods were used from July, 1871, throughout the 
held work. Theoretically, the effect of changes in tem- 
perature, taking the modulus of steel, as adopted by the 
Coast Survey, at 0'.00000G4 for 1° Faht., and of pine (or 



22 

deal) by Joule, at 0'.0000023, would be on 100° range, for 
o,0;)D feet 3.2D feet iu one case, and 1.15 feet in the other ; 
practically, we fouud the changes of the rods slight, as a 
rule, iu different seasons. For instance, Eod No. 1, on 500 
feet test, January 9th to Slst, 1872, stood 0\022 short (for 
whole distance) ; Februaiy 7th, 0'.01«5 ; April 12th, 0'.023 
long-; May 8th. 0.029 long. Eod N^o. 2, in August, Sep- 
tember and October, 1873, ranged from O'.OIO to 0'-020 
long, on various intermediate tests. In July 1871, a 
moisture test showed an expansion for a wet rod of O'.oOO 
in 5,000 feet ; but as no measurements were made with a 
wet rod, our chief care was to detect the effects of absorp- 
tion, which rapidly dried out. 

In ISTew Utrecht, 60th Street was located parallel with 
58th Street, and made the base of the adopted sj^stem, 
and 86th Street was established parallel with it, by meas- 
urements on 9th and 22d Avenues, this parallelogram 
being the basis of included or extended bases from West 
Street to Ith Avenue. In making the check measurement 
down 14th Avenue base, from 00th to 8Gth, the error was 
0\04, on a distance of 0,940 feet ; and the diagonal base 
measured down 4th Avenue, also checked and proved the 
transit lines. On part of the Ocean Avenue base line, a 
check m::iasurement over a distance of 12,410 feet, by 
standard, came out 12,409.90. On all the main parallel- 
ograms, the measurements and transit checks were satis- 
factory, except in one case in Flatbush, which occurred 
through checks improperly reported, but was not deemed 
of suiiicient consequence to alter, after the monuments 
were set, and is corrected on the maps, for the main angles. 

In transit work, by using glass diaphragms in the in- 
strument for intersections, which are much less subject to 
temperature and moisture changes than spider-lines or 
j)latina wire, and by care in multiplying or reversing 
sights, the work, in the hands of skillful assistants, proved 
very satisfactory, under severe tests, though carried on 
through all seasons, and with ordinar}^ engineer transits. 



23 

For this method of running straight lines, like making ac- 
curate measurements, is far from being as simple as it 
appears. 

STREET CRADES. 

The experience of the Brooklyn Commission for laying- 
out streets showed the importance of a prompt adoption 
of street grades in connection with the new street lines 
under their jurisdiction. Our Commission have uniformly 
avoided any pr()i>osal to extend their powers, and for this 
reason the matter of future street grades has been neglect- 
ed, except in limited local cases. 

It is very evident, on inspection, that the eventual ex- 
tension of Brooklyn streets into the towns, will be much 
embarrassed by the city grades, at and near the city line, 
which have simply consulted the economy of actual street 
grading within the city, and neglected the advantages of 
extended distance, and the use of borrow^-banks for de- 
pressions beyond the line. 

In certain local cases, as on GOth Street, where 5th 
Avenue is cut down 15 feet ; and on Prospect Avenue, 
where a deep cut is made to meet Seeley Street, this ne- 
cessity has been recognized. The district south of the 
Eastern Parkway has been re-established for grades, so as 
to make this the summit avenue, but as the grades pro- 
gress easterly, from Franklin Avenue, they still fail in 
proper reduction at the city line, and the extension of this 
Parkway itself is seriously impeded by its grade, and that 
of its parallel streets. 

Over the area of the towns themselves, the progress of 
local improvements, without a general plan, is likely to 
lead to grave complications in the future. 

Along thfe Harbor front, the street plans have been in 
local cases specially adapted to a special plan of construc- 
tion, which will facilitate future docking and warehouse 
uses, without involving the destruction of picturesque 
building sites on the bluffs. 



24 

During the Legislative session of 1872-3, prominent 
residents of Bay Ridge, near tlie city line, a])p]ied for an 
act authorizing this Ooni mission to determine grades for 
tlie district north of Bay Kidge Avenue and west of Fort 
Hamilton Avenue. This act Mas altered in the Senate, so 
as to throw the cost on the towns at large, and the Com- 
mission very properly refused to act under that provision. 
Last winter a Special Commission was n])itointed, and is 
now in charge of that duty. 



TOWN AREAS Af^D CAPACBTIES, 

The proximate areas of the four towns under our more 
immediate charge, calculated to the bulldiead lines, and 
therefore (except Fhitbush.) in excess of the assessment 
districts, are as follows : 

TOWN. ACKES. SQUARE MILES. 

New Utrecht 5.584 8,725 

Flatbusb 3,959 6 185 

Graveseiid G 418 10,028 

P'latlands 7,276 1 1,:^68 

Total 23 237 3G,306 

Assuming blocks of 700 by 200 feet, with CO feet streets 
and 80 feet avenues, and 50 lots per block, we have in 
this total area a proximate estimate of 4,902 blocks, 1,960 
miles of streets, 279,548 lots, and at seven persons per 
lot, a possil)le population of 1,950,830, at some future 
day. 

The New Lots map does not give the water lines. I 
am informed by Mr. Johnson, that the proximate area, 
not including the salt meadow, is 3,500 acres. The blocks 
are smaller in this Town, and assuming them at 500 feet 
by 200, with avenues 70 feet and streets 00 feet, the future 
capacity of the five towns is 0,021 blocks, 2,289 miles of 
streets, 320,700 lots, and 2,244,900 inhabitants, 

'Engineers know by experience that estimates of this 
kind are not chimerical. When we were busy on the pre- 



25 

liminary work of the Brooklyn water supply, in 1854, onr 
estimates for a future populatiou of 400,000 were some- 
times ridiculed, but the populatiou came for all that. 
And this district has been for twenty years lying dormant, 
while 200,000 people have gone into N^ew Jersey, although 
they had to cross a belt of salt marshes 8 miles wide in 
great part, and although the soil, climate, productiveness, 
water supply, healthfulness, and other advantages of 
Kings County, are unexceptionable, simply because the 
landed wealth of these Towns has practically declined to 
give the surplus of New York any adequate access by 
steam to the district. 

IMPROVEiVIENTS. 

Tlie fact that this Commission was inaugurated by 
common consent of the towns, was an evidence of con- 
cession to the law of progress and a desire for systematic 
work; and the uniform good will and popular assent 
which has been conceded to our work, is a matter of con- 
gratulation to the Commission. No sooner had any gen- 
eral plan been adopted, than local street opening com- 
menced, and uo small part of our labor has been expend- 
ed in extra work on these special improvements. 

Under the plans accepted, or laid out by this Commis- 
sion, the following streets and avenues, have been com- 
pleted, or are now in progress, since 18(39, within the 
towns : 

NAME. LENGTH IN MILES. 

Fourth Avenue 1.85 

Second Avenue 1.12 

Fort Hamilton Avenue 3.76 

Forty-ninth Street 1.36 

Sixtieth Street 3.13 

Sixty-fifth Street 0.50 

First Avenue. 0.10 

Wakeman Plaee 21 

Oviugton Avenue 1.73 

Eighty-sixth Street 5.24 

Twenty-second Avenue 2.03 

Gravesend Avenue 4 39 

Ocean Parkway 5.38 



26 

Ocean Avenue 5.57 

Washington Avenue 0.50 

Washington Place 0.09 

Franklin Avenue 0.23 

Malbone Street 0.64 

Letferts Avenue 0.61 

Caton Aveoue 0.70 

Grant Street 0.77 

Avenue B 1.06 

Platbush Avenue 2.57 

Four Towns 43.53 

Kockaway Avenue, Kew Lots 3.40 

Atlantic Avenue, " 2.00 

Bush wick Avenue, " 0.26 

Fulton Avenue, " 1.60 

Proximate Length (Miles) . . 50.79 

A street railway, to be operated by steam, is proi)osed 
for Graveseiid Aveime, from tbe Hamilton Ferry to Coney 
Islantl, wben that avenue is completed. Efforts are also 
being- made to provide for the constrnction of a steam 
passenger and freight railway from Bay Ridge to the 
Oanarsie Railway, with a Ferry to New York, which 
will give the surplus i)opulation of New York access to 
Kings and Queens Counties, on the most favorable dis- 
tricts for population. Various other improvements, of a 
local character, show a general disposition to take ad- 
vantage of the spirit of the times. 

EXPENDITURES. 

For all the purposes of the Survey, including engineer- 
ing, monuments, office expenses, and Commissioners, the 
following amounts have been incurred : 

1869 $4,028 49 

1870 12,765 15 

1871 15,963 72 

1872 20,618 85 

1873 14,774 35 

1874; 7,843 24 

Total $75,993 80 

Warrants paid $73,118 80 

Balance of $2,875 00 



being assumed by the Superintendent of Surveys of which 
$691.19 is credited to the Commissioners for oflBce fur- 
niture, etc., and the payment of the balance waived, to 
relieve the Commissioners from asliiug for another ap- 
propriation in the fall of 1873. 

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT. 

The following assistants have been employed on this 
work : 

First Assistants: 

F. B. Howard, September. 1869, to April 30, 1870. 
S. H. McElroy, May 1, 1870, to November, 1, 1874 

Second Assistants : 
S. H. McElroy, November, 1869, to May 1, 1870. 
W. H. Stillwell, (Gravesend,) November, 1869. to August, 1870, 
H. W. Brown, April 1873, to November 1, 1874. 
H. W. BrinkerhoEF, August, 1871- 
Stephen Mosher, September to October, 1873. 

In charge of Base Measurements : 
Elbert Nexsen, April to October, 1871. 
James Otis, August to October, 1871. 
J, 0. Hall, November and December, 1871. 
E. D. Brigham, November, 1871, to January, 1873. 
Jas. W. Abbot, November, 1871, to June, 1873. 
A. L. Ford. August and September. 1871. 
Irving McElroy, April to September, 1872. 
Preston King. July to September, 1872. 
Howard Batchelder, September. 1872. to November, 1873. 
Charles Crooke, December, 1872, to February, 1874. 

Draftsmen : 
1869, Carlos Guerrero, O. Siebeth ; 1870, C. Guerrero ; H. W. Brown, 

1871 to 1874, 1st and 2d Assistants, etc. 

Subordinate Assistants : 
1869, William Watson, H. J. O'Brien ; 1870, Wm. Watson, E. Nexsen, 
H. J. O'Brien, Wm. H. Van Buren, M. P. Brazill, J. Gate. C. L. Cook, W. 
H. Paine, C. Crooke ; 1871, W. H. Van Buren, J. Gate, C. Crooke, E. A. 
liudiger, A. L Ford, M. Van Kleeck, I. McElroy, E. D. Brigham, G. P. 
Coyle, J. C. Hall, F. S. Bragg, M. A. Smith, F. M. Alcover, J. S. Kathbone ; 
1872, C. Crooke, J. S. Rathboue, G. P. Coyle, F. S. Bragg, F. M. Alcover 
P. King, G. H. Higgins,, J. McGlone, S. Jones, H. Batchelder, G. Hogg, 
C. Pelletreau, C. L. Cook ; 1873, W. H. Van Buien. G. P. Coyle, F. S. Bragg, 
B. B. Newton, S. Knapp, P. Smith, Wm. H. Morgan. 



28 

" The success of our work is greatly indebted to tbe skill 
and fidelity of these assistants, in their several depart- 
ments, employed on work of an unusual character, and 
under difficult circumstances. 

CONCLUSION. 

My sincere thanks are due to the Commissioners for 
the opportunity given me, to indentify myself with so 
important a work to the future development of Brooklyn 
and the Towns, and a work of unusual professional in- 
terest ; also, for the entire harmony and singleness of 
action with which I have been sustained, in the perfection 
of plans, which in various cases have seemetl injurious 
to the Commissioners, as personal land owners, or to the 
local interests from time to time presented. Here and 
there we have yielded to special appeals, against our 
own judgment, but the instances are rare, and the 
General Plan, as a whole, stands com})lete, as to the 
theory of its arrangement, and we submit it to the 
present and future generations, with full confidence in 
the integrity of its principles. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Samuel McElroy, 

Sup't of Survey. 
Brooklyn, October 30, 1874 



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